THE British Government is “implicated” in the Middle East conflict and “compelled, as part of its historical role”, to support the Palestinian people and help to end the Israeli occupation, an Anglican priest in the West Bank has said on a visit to the UK.
In an interview with the Church Times, the Rector of St Andrew’s, Ramallah, the Revd Fadi Diab, referred to the Balfour Declaration, in which Arthur Balfour, Foreign Secretary, writing to Lord Rothschild in 1917, promised, on behalf of the British Government, while it was still at war with the Ottoman Empire, “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
Fr Diab said that there were now five million Palestinians under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, and that “occupation needs to end.” He continued: “It’s as simple as that, and that is the ethical and moral responsibility of countries like the UK, to work towards ending that occupation, and, because of the UK’s historical role, I think it has to play a particular role in ending that occupation of the Palestinian people.”
The priest, who hosted the Archbishop of Canterbury in the West Bank last month during her pilgrimage of solidarity with Palestinian Christians, was speaking before this weekend’s General Synod meeting in York. He has been invited to attend and speak with members. He hoped that the C of E would stand up against what he repeatedly and unhesitatingly called “genocide”.
He said: “Since 7 October, the Church has not vocally and practically made really strong statements or actions to stop the subjugation and oppression and exploitation of the Palestinian community. I also hope that the Church would write and pressure the governments, and in this case the British Government, to take practical measures to put pressure on the Israeli government to comply with international law, and with the international community’s wish of a two-state solution.”
Last week, Fr Diab presented to the Methodist Conference the 2025 document Kairos II, A Moment of Truth: Faith in a time of genocide, which he co-wrote in response to events in Gaza after the atrocities in Israel on 7 October 2023. This calls for an urgent global Christian response.
“There were several pre-conference and conference discussions, and the resolution passed without any restrictions,” he said.
Fr Diab was speaking after reports of increased settler violence. “They cause havoc in Palestinian society,” and this was “becoming very serious”, he said.
The settlers were being supported and encouraged by Ministers and by the Netanyahu government, he said. “So this is not as people like to describe it — as incidents here and there. No, this is a structural violence against the Palestinian community, pressuring them to leave, and that is that is the danger of these attacks, including attacks on Christians.”
Last month, Fr Diab helped to host Archbishop Mullally in the town of Birzeit (News, 22 June), home to Layan Nasir, a 26-year-old Palestinian Anglican woman who, over the past five years, has spent three periods in Israeli administrative detention and prison (News, 19 May).
“These visits are very important in terms of showing solidarity with the Palestinian Christian community and Palestinian Anglican community in particular,” he said.
“The visit was very good, and the Archbishop was moved by the accounts and stories, and you know that she heard from the community, and we were very glad that she promised to use her leadership to advocate for the end of the occupation; so, yes, it was a very good visit.”
Asked about Ms Nasir, Fr Diab said: “She’s doing well. I mean, this is a long, long-away healing process from the trauma of imprisonment, but she’s doing well. She’s got the support of her family, her church community, and I’m sure the visit of the Archbishop was a cornerstone in the process of healing from that trauma of imprisonment.”
Turning to Gaza, Fr Diab said: “Gaza is still suffering, and we all know that we might be witnessing the disappearance of the Christian community within the coming five to ten years in Gaza, because what is left of the Christian community is only 40 per cent, and we don’t know if these people will continue to be in Gaza after the borders are open, because, as you know, Gaza is made uninhabitable. I mean, there is only destruction in Gaza. . . People are still suffering in Gaza, even after the ceasefire.”
Fr Diab emphasised “the hypocrisy” that this was taking place “under the patronage” of President Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
Sir Vincent Fean, a former British Consul-General to Jerusalem, said: “Fr Fadi Diab speaks for his Christian community in the State of Palestine; for every Palestinian under military occupation — oppression — and for the human dignity of us all. His message is piercingly direct: people of good will need to generate government action now to end the 1967 occupation peacefully.
“Palestinians are at breaking point. Twenty per cent of the 50,000 Christians living in the Holy Land have left in the last three years. If nothing changes, more will leave; the churches will have no parishioners.
“This exodus is forced, not voluntary: the people want to stay where they were born. But the Israeli government want the land without its native people. Until there are consequences for their systematic pressure on Palestinians to leave, more and more will go.”
He asked: “What consequences are fitting? Ending UK trade in goods and services with illegal settlements in the West Bank — the French word for a settlement is ‘colonie’; church investors to divest from any company or bank engaged in prolonging the unlawful 1967 occupation or complicit in crimes against humanity; strong support for the Just Peace Alliance and their specific calls for action by our Government, in Parliament, and by our Churches, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in faith.”
Sir Vincent said that Fr Diab “was glad that the charity I work with — the Britain Palestine Project — changed its name last year from the Balfour Project. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the British Mandate paved the way for Palestinian dispossession, continuing to this day. So our country has a clear responsibility to give a lead: action speaks louder than words.”
You can listen to the full interview on the Church Times Podcast here.